If a student takes something away from his stay to learn Spanish in Spain it is the siesta. This habit is popular and loved within our country and by foreigners who visit the peninsula and is ideal to have a moment of relaxation after food or before going to your lectures in the Spanish school.
This habit, named only in Spanish, is practised not only in Spain but in many countries such as Germany, Austria or France. Many businesses in United States and Japan have even introduced a short time in their employees’ working days for them to practice this habit as it increases performance.
The siesta, or what the Spanish writer Camilo José Cela defined as the Iberian yoga, is usually practised after lunch, between 1pm and 4pm, and specialists recommend not to let it go over 30 minutes, as if it is done over a longer period of time it can cause sleepless nights. We recommend that all Spanish students sleep for a bit after lunch, not only because it is a Spanish habit, but because it is good for the health, since it promotes an efficient digestion and mainly because it counters stress as well as mental and physical fatigue.
Not all people do a siesta, some because they don’t want to, others because they cannot do so, but if you have a few minutes at home after lunch, at work or in your Spanish school, do not hesitate and get a rest, be it in the sofa, the bed or in a park in the city where you are staying to learn Spanish.
Image siesta. Mgpanoramico. http://bit.ly/xFP5Aj